On A Mission
by VinVal
Summary: Can Vincent stop the same mistake from happening twice? Rated T for some violence.


Disclaimer: I don't own anything besides my car, my shoes, and sometimes my wife.

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Non–Author's–Note: This is my husband's story, and since it's his only fanfiction, he has no profile. All replies will come from him, so don't hold it against me if he's rude! – VinVal

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Walking down the darkened corridor, he simply glided over the bodies that had fallen not five minutes ago. Something around the corner scampered into hiding. Not breathing, because it is completely unnecessary for him, the tall and slender figure rounded the corner and quickly ducked under a potentially fatal blow directed at his head, while shooting a foot quickly into the gut of the aggressor.

Winded, the attacking man flailed blindly at the man in a red cape, hoping to get a lucky shot. Silently, the owner of a unique three barreled fire arm evaded the pathetic attack of a man not far from his final resting place. With a quick twist of his wrist and an all but invisible twitch of his finger, three shots fired simultaneously and created yet another sculpture that will be viewed by analysts as evidence.

_Almost to the central complex..._

Flying down a set of stairs with little effort, this sinister looking man consulted a map of the building, quickly scanning the area in which he was concerned, the WRO data archives storage facility.

_They can't do this, they don't understand the complications..._

Another squad of guards charged his temporary outpost with yet another hopeless tactic, tear gas. Aside from the obvious lack of affect, the restricting masks made them easier targets. Another six made a total of about 20 casualties. All for two data disks.

_Why..._

"Vincent...why are you doing this?"

"Reeve... where are the disks? Where are Cloud and Tifa?"

Reeve moved directly in Vincent's path, and turned to face him. "I've never had to do this before, so pardon my bluntness."

"You were in urban development after all..." Vincent holstered Cerberus for the moment, almost giving Reeve a false sense of ease. "You understand what's going on, don't you...?"

"Better than you ever will, I'm afraid. Look Vincent, listen to reason, they have the right." Cait Sith waltzed around the corner at this point, emphasizing the fact that a relationship would end here.

Saying nothing, Vincent unsheathed a beast he had hoped wouldn't have to consume his friends. Almost reluctantly he loaded, cocked and aimed as methodically as a minister would rise, proceed up front and lay out his paper work. As the sight settled on Reeve, his finger hovered over the trigger.

"It's a shame that it's come to this. You're not a bad person Vincent, just disillusioned." With that said Reeve leaped into action and threw Cait Sith at Vincent's head. Two shots echoed out like the chimes of a church at midnight. Reeve and Cait Sith hit the ground simultaneously, both with holes on their foreheads and caverns missing behind the ears.

"... Rot in the Hell that spawned you, you traitorous bastard..."

Walking away from more corpses, Vincent shed a lone tear. A tear that looked out of place, like a lone evergreen tree in the middle of the desert.

Vincent entered the archives with no further disruption. Selecting the two data disks that contained the information he was after, he floated over to one of the computers to access the disks.

_Why... What are they thinking? Especially Tifa... I will not just stand by again…_

A quick search of the first disk revealed the location at which Cloud and Tifa were residing, apart from each other. The second disk showed the progress that had been accomplished with all of the lab work…on their child. At first glance one would be impressed by the volume, and near completeness, of the tests and modifications. Vincent nearly fainted.

_I've got to get moving **NOW!**_

Vincent swiftly exited the complex and headed to the lost city, where Cloud was currently residing.

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"Come to talk, or to fight, Vincent?"

"Either one will lead to the other. It depends on what order you prefer…" Vincent pushed off the corner he had snuck into earlier that day. Moving easily into the room and to the only other chair in the room, Vincent sat as if both of Cerberus and the Buster Sword were in the other room rather than drawn and aimed at each other.

"We don't need your permission. We know what we're doing." Cloud watched Vincent's hair ruffle in the slight breeze, almost as a tumble weed would symbolize the old western draw moment.

As fast as lightning, Cloud shot across the room, slashing downward at the chair Vincent was occupying. Vincent vanished into a flash of red cape, moving perpendicular to Cloud firing several rounds. Deflecting these well aimed shots, Cloud back flipped over the table with several horizontal slashes this time.

Vincent grunted in the remaining chair behind Cloud as he reloaded. "You've slowed down, I'm disappointed. You'll need as much of your former strength as you can muster to deal with Jenova's new apprentice."

"LIES!" Another omni slash attack destroyed the last remaining chair. Vincent, now leaning against the book case staring at Cloud, was taking his sweet time reloading, realizing the inevitable.

"Cloud, have you lost yourself again?"

"You don't understand how hard it is to see your child in that much pain, and being helpless." Slowly standing, Cloud visibly fought to maintain composure. He was losing.

"Never the less, introducing Jenova's cells into ANYONE is the worst idea imaginable." Finally complete with reloading, Vincent snapped Cerberus into place.

"I know that, it took two months to make this decision, Tifa even longer. We've exhausted all other possibilities." Cloud sheathed his sword for the moment, giving the air a rather thick sense of unease.

Vincent observed a Cloud he had never seen before, one with so much inner conflict that there was next to nothing left of him. For the first time since laying eyes on Cloud, Vincent was unsure of how this encounter would end…

_It matters not; the one thing that does matter is ending this before it begins._

_Don't be so hasty Vincent; there still may be some way to salvage this situation, _Lucrecia's voice suddenly piped up.

"I just can't think of a better way to go." Cloud slumped against the wall, collapsing in a heap like a rag doll.

"Tell me were Skye is."

"Over my dead body," Cloud unsheathed the Buster Sword again and set it on the ground next to him.

"If you won't come to your senses then surely Tifa will."

"I'll never let you do this as long as there is breath left in me. Tifa and I alone have the right to look after Skye and we have made our decision."

"You do realize that what you two are doing will only make more suffer? That in the end it will come to destroying Skye or letting Skye destroy the planet."

In reply, Cloud merely stood with his sword in his hands. The look in his eyes was that of an animal protecting its young. The battle had only just begun.

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N–A–N (again): The name Skye for Cloud and Tifa's child came from another fiction by Rend (it's good stuff, too). They are not the same character; I was telling my husband about "Through Innocent Eyes" and he liked the name. End similarity here. 


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